Great ratings news for NC State's MBA

NC State's Jenkins MBA received more great rankings news from Bloomberg Businessweek and the QS Global MBA rankings.  Bloomberg ranked the full-time program #36 among public universities and #70 overall.  The program ranked #28 overall in the super-critical job placement dimension with 92% placement in 2016 within three months of graduation.  NC State's MBA also did well on the employer survey, placing #54 overall.

NC State's full-time MBA placed in the #111-120 category in the QS Global MBA rankings.  The program placed #58 in the world on the employability dimension, which reflects employer feedback and placement statistics.  Focusing solely on US schools, NC State's MBA came in at #53 overall, #30 on employability and #46 on thought leadership.

Rankings for the part-time and online programs will appear in the spring.

What will the Poole gift mean for College of Management?

I have received a lot of questions from students and others about the Poole gift to NC State's College of Management.  One thing people need to realize is that it is a foundation gift, meaning that the College can spend the returns from the gift but cannot spend the principal.  Initially the College will have $300-400k per year from the gift (which will arrive in installments); eventually it will mean $1.5-2 million.

Either sum, invested wisely, can make a huge difference for the College.  I urge students and other stakeholders to use the comment tool to ask questions and make suggestions about what they would like to see.

Naming gift for NC State College of Management

Wonderful news for NC State University and its College of Management last Friday with the announcement of a $40 million gift from Lonnie C. and Carol Johnson Poole.  The College of Management will receive $37 million and will henceforth be known as the Lonnie C. Poole College of Management.  The gift will be used to build and improve programs in sustainability, ethics, and entrepreneurship.  The remainder of the gift will be used to build the Carol Johnson Poole clubhouse adjacent to the Lonnie C. Poole golf course on Centennial Campus and to build faculty excellence in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. 

Graduate programs will continue to be housed in the Ben Jenkins Graduate School of Management.  At graduation Saturday I introduced the students as the first graduates of the Jenkins MBA program in the Poole College of Management.  Boy, that felt great! 

On the more serious side, the Poole naming gift opens up opportunities for our college while at the same time raises the stakes for improved performance and visibility.  I have been in graduate management education for almost 20 years and have seen a number of schools get very sizable gifts.  Sometimes it makes a big difference; other times the only thing that changes is the name.  My responsibility in the coming year will be to engage with faculty, students and staff to discuss how to best leverage the gift so that the college has greater impact.